Holstein, Germany became the next Shakhtar’s opponents during the preparation for a new season. Head coach of the Donetsk side Paulo Fonseca featured a completely renewed starting line-up, compared to the previous match against Odense, Denmark (3-2). So, Maksym Malyshev and Facundo Ferreyra took the field from the opening minutes, with the latter having recovered after minor damage. Sergii Kryvtsov took his team-mates onto the pitch wearing a captain's armband.

Firsthalf

From the off, the Miners took the game into the opponents' half, using the entire width of the pitch for their attacking moves. It did not come to the moments of danger, as Holstein players produced rather tight defensive performance by leaving no free spaces to the Donetsk team. Shakhtar registered the first threatening episode near Kenneth Cronholm’s goal in the 13th minute following a breakthrough by Oleksandr Zubkov, however, the 20-year-old midfielder dragged his powerful shot wide.

Shakhtar registered the first threatening episode near Kenneth Cronholm’s goal in the 13th minute following a breakthrough by Oleksandr Zubkov, however, the 20-year-old midfielder dragged his powerful shot wide

The Orange-and-Blacks increased their advantage, and a clear-cut opportunity fell Dentinho’s way. His teammates put Shakhtar number nine in a promising position centrally, but only the German goalkeeper appeared in the right place to mop up the threat. In the middle of the first half, Ivan Petryak fired well twice towards the opponents' goal, however his shots turned to be not accurate enough in either of cases. The hosts also looked for their chance in counterattacks. On 34 minutes, Dentinho had an excellent opportunity to break the deadlock: after playing a corner and nice assist from Sergii Kryvtsov, he tried to tap the ball home at the far post, but failed to get prepared properly to kick and missed the target. In the closing stages of the first period, the Germans could open the scoring, but Mykyta Shevchenko and Bohdan Butko prevented Holstein from doing the needful.

Second half

After the break, Taison and Viktor Kovalenko emerged on the pitch. The Brazilian took the position of Ivan Petryak, as the Ukrainian came on for Facundo Ferreyra by taking the place of Dentinho, who moved to the offensive end. In general, the game pattern remained unchanged: the Miners still continued to put pressure on the opponents’ defensive line, having complete superiority in all components. Taison was notable for the active performance, as Bohdan Butko made threatening breakthroughs, with Viacheslav Tankovskyi assisting nicely.

The Miners still continued to put pressure on the opponents’ defensive line, having complete superiority in all components. Viacheslav Tankovskyi assisting nicely

In the 67th minute, Paulo Fonseca fielded eight new players at once. Until the end of the match, the action took place almost inside the penalty area of Holstein, with the hosts dropping back with the entire team. The Miners displayed combination play, however, the meeting eventually ended in a goalless draw.